Hoel III, Count of Nantes

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Hoël III, Count of Nantes (also known as Hoël of Cornwall), died in 1156 and ruled Nantes from 1148 until his death. He was the son of Duke Conan III of Brittany and Maud FitzRoy, who was an illegitimate daughter of King Henry I of England. On Conan III’s deathbed, he claimed Hoël was illegitimate and disinherited him, giving Bertha the lands of Brittany while Hoël kept the title of Count of Nantes.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux accused Hoël of having an incestuous affair with his sister Bertha. But the story of disinheritance may be more legend than fact. In 1908, Viscount Charles de la Lande de Calan suggested Hoël might have been illegitimate and Conan arranged Nantes for his support. The name Hoël had often been used for illegitimate counts of Nantes.

In 1996, Katharine Keats-Rohan proposed that Conan III disinherited his legitimate son to unite Brittany by marrying Bertha to their cousin Alan, so that Alan’s heirs could control Brittany. If true, Hoël would have held Nantes for life as part of this long-term plan.

In 1156, with support from Geoffrey FitzEmpress (Henry II’s brother), the Nantaise rose up and drove Hoël from Nantes. This rebellion fit into the larger war between Stephen of England and Empress Matilda, and Bertha’s marriage to Alan tied Brittany to Stephen’s side. After his exile, Hoël may have sought sanctuary at the Cistercian abbey of Melleray and may have died there shortly after.